


Don't do this

by Melime



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Community: femslashficlets, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-27
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-04-28 11:52:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5089718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/pseuds/Melime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She should have acted sooner, now Josephine was about to marry someone else and it was too late. Luckily, she was never the kind to give up easily.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't do this

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Português brasileiro available: [Não faça isso](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5089721) by [Melime GreenLeaf (Melime)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/pseuds/Melime%20GreenLeaf)



> Challenge #021 - late.

Evelyn screamed against her pillow, still furious at herself for her delay in acting. She had spent the whole night crying, until she had no more tears left to give. Despite the fact they had been dancing around each other for several weeks now, she knew there was a possibility that Josephine didn’t return her feelings; but of all the responses to that ill-conceived kiss after a late night of work, this was one she could never expect. ‘I can’t, I’m engaged to be married, I should have said something sooner.’ Her words still echoed in Evelyn’s mind, she couldn’t understand how could this have happened. Maybe in her innocence Josephine had misunderstood her previous advances. Or maybe Evelyn was the one who was mistaken.

Whatever happened, she wouldn’t find out by sitting in her room and pounding. She was the Inquisitor, for crying aloud! She shouldn’t be afraid of dealing with her own feelings. If Josephine had someone else in her life, great, she would accept it and back off, but first she needed to know. Evelyn stormed in Josephine’s office, before she lost her courage.

“Inquisitor, should I call the others to the war table?” Josephine offered with a smile, as if nothing had happened.

“No, actually, I’m here to talk to you. About what you said last night,” she said, in front of her table.

“Oh.” She licked her lips, and looked down, unsure of how to react to that. “What would you like to talk about, specifically?”

“I need know, this marriage of yours, do you love this person?” She tried not to sound hurt, but failed.

“It’s not… it’s not what you think. It’s an arranged marriage, with an Antivan nobleman, Lord Adorno Ciel Otranto, according to my mother’s letter. I’ve been told it will have good effects on my family’s position.”

Evelyn looked back at her, puzzled. As a noblewoman herself, from a family that had great aspirations despite their minor position, she was no stranger to the concept of arranged marriages, although she herself was able to escape that fate once her magic manifested. However, she couldn’t conciliate the idea of someone as in charge of her own life as Josephine allowing herself to be betrothed to someone she didn’t even know.

“So, what? You are just going to marry a guy you haven’t met? Because your mother says so?” she argued a bit angrier than she expected to sound.

“It’s my duty to do whatever is my power to help my family. My personal feelings on the matter have little to do with this arrangement. As a Trevelyan you should know this.”

“Don’t. You don’t get to bring my family into this, not when you know how I feel about those bastards. At the circle, I met mages who were ripped from their families, but mine didn’t even hesitated. If I didn’t have magic, they would have gotten rid of me just a couple years later, they would give me to the Chantry without a thought as to what I wanted. But you know what? I’ve decided not to let them interfere in my life a long time ago, maybe you could benefit from a similar decision.”

“It’s not that simple! It’s too late for it now. Maybe if I had known sooner about the way you felt about me, I could have tried to find a way out of this. But to do it now? This would ruin my family’s reputation, and all that I tried so hard to restore.”

Evelyn’s expression softened. “This isn’t about my feelings, although I am fond of you. This is about your life. Can you look me in the eye and say you want to marry him?”

“Please don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

Evelyn bit her lip, she wasn’t sure of the effect her next words would have, but she had to try. She wouldn’t forgive herself if she let Josephine go without at least trying. “I’m sorry to ask this of you, Josie, but I need you to make a decision now. You tell me that you want to respect your family’s wishes and marry this guy, and I’ll respect this, you’ll never hear me speak of it again. I’ll even go to your wedding and cheer the happy couple. But if you tell me you want a way out of this, without destroying your family’s reputation, then I’ll save you. Not because I love you, but because you deserve better than this.”

Josephine was surprised. She didn’t expect Evelyn’s feelings to be so strong, this made it harder for her to ignore her own. “There’s no way you can save me from this.”

“I was chosen to save the world, I recon there isn’t much I can’t do. Just say the word.”

Josephine closed her eyes for a moment. “Let’s say for a moment you could. How would you even do it?”

Evelyn smiled; she could tell Josephine had made her choice. “I’m not completely uneducated, you know? I actually had lots of lessons on how those things work before going to the circle. I challenge Lord Whatshisname to a duel over your hand, then I apologize to my family for being a rebellious young girl and ask them to arrange our marriage as a compensation to your family. I trust the ties between our families haven’t weakened while I was busy being a pariah?”

Josephine was genuinely impressed by how well thought that was. “You can’t risk yourself like this! And did you just say ‘arrange our marriage’?”

Evelyn gave her an unapologetic smile. “You noticed that, didn’t you? Anyway, it will be no risk, I’m an excellent duelist. And you are worth it.”

“I’m not, you are too important to…”

Evelyn reached across the table, cupping Josephine’s face with a hand. “To me you are.”

Josephine blushed, and tried to look away, but Evelyn kept her from doing it with a kiss. They could make this work.


End file.
